Wary Mulayam gets into action mode

Orders ministers to perform or perish

Apparently wary of a resurgent BJP and upset over the slow pace of development projects launched by his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has decided to get into action mode and monitor the performance of ministers and bureaucrats.

According to the SP leaders here, Mulayam has clearly told the ministers and officials that he will personally monitor their performance and will make sure that the non-performing minister and official are shown the door and replaced by energetic ones.

“Mulayam will be reviewing the performance of the ministers after a fortnight. He wants them to show him results. The ministers have been asked to tell the SP chief about their work in the past fortnight,” said a senior leader.

He said the officials had also been asked to complete the development projects within the stipulated time.

“The state government had launched a slew of projects but a very few of them were completed on time,” said the leader.

Party to pay price
The SP leaders said Mulayam was worried that the party could pay a heavy price for the laxity on the part of the state government in the next Assembly polls, due in a little over two years.

“The party organisation is above the government. The government has to deliver on the promises made by the party,” Mulayam told the ministers recently.

The party sources also said Mulayam might ask Akhilesh to drop the non-performing ministers and replace them with fresh faces.

In fact Mulayam had specifically named and pulled up a minister for not taking interest in the development of his constituency.

“Mulayam knows that he will have a fight at hand in the next Assembly polls with the resurgent BJP. It is going to be perform or perish kind of thing for the party,” the leader said.

The stern message has already triggered panic among the ministers and the bureaucracy. “We may see some results in the days to come,” the SP leader remarked.